Arkham Asylum
The Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane, commonly called Arkham Asylum, is a fictional psychiatric hospital in the DC Universe, usually appearing in stories featuring Batman. Many criminals who experience Psychosis from across the DC Universe, mostly from Batman's own rogues gallery (such as The Joker, Poison Ivy, The Riddler, Two-Face, the Scarecrow, Bane, Killer Croc and Harley Quinn) have been patients within the Asylum and also escaped from it. The Arkham Asylum is named after the Sanatorium in the fictional city of Arkham, Massachusetts, found in many of H.P. Lovecraft's short horror and science fiction stories, such as "The Colour out of Space". History Arkham Asylum is located on the outskirts of Gotham City, and is where those of Batman's foes considered to be legally insane are incarcerated (other foes are incarcerated at Blackgate Penitentiary). Although it has had numerous administrators, its current head is Jeremiah Arkham. The Asylum does not have a good record, at least with regard to the high profile cases; escapes are frequent (on at least one occasion, an obsessive-compulsive multiple murderer was signed out of Arkham into the care of an incontinent, alcoholic vagrant, on the grounds that he "looked like a responsible citizen"), and those who are 'cured' and released tend to re-offend. Furthermore, several staff members, including at least one director, have ended up as residents, notably Dr. Jeremiah Arkham, Dr. Harleen Quinzel, Lyle Bolton and even the founder Dr. Amadeus Arkham and, in some incarnations, Doctors, Jonathan Crane and Hugo Strange. Originally known as Mercey Mansion, the hospital was run by Amadeus Arkham. Arkham himself was slowly driven insane shortly following the grisly murder of his wife and child by a lunatic named Martin "Mad Dog" Hawkins. Dying inside his own hospital, custodianship of Arkham Asylum was passed down to his nephew, Jeremiah. Jermiah Arkham took a hardline approach towards the care of his patients. He completely renovated the interior of the hospital, tearing away the old Victorian-style architecture, replacing it with newly designed interconnecting corridors patterned in the style of old classical labyrinths. With little regard for the hospital's dark history, Jeremiah was certain to destroy old remnants of the old asylum, including his uncle's private journal. Arkham hired Hiram Contractors to handle the renovations. What Jeremiah didn't realize however was that the company foreman, Zolly Hiram, had been blackmailed by patient Victor Zsasz into building a secret corridor that connected to several padded rooms, including his own. This later enabled Zsasz to affect a temporary escape from the asylum. Years ago, the original Arkham Asylum suffered massive structural damage when the criminal Bane orchestrated a large-scale break-out, setting dozens of patients free. As a result, Jeremiah Arkham was forced to close its doors and relocate. He established a new Arkham Asylum at the site of the abandoned estate of Eric Mercey on Mercey Island. Security Jeremiah Arkham installed the most state-of-the-art security measures when he took control of the asylum. Video recorders were installed in every room and corridor with two guards stationed on every level twenty-four hours a day to discourage bribery. Even Arkham himself was required to present identification to access various levels of the hospital. All exterior windows at Arkham were installed with heat detectors and microwave motion detectors. Magnetic foils in the walls were used to block radio waves from penetrating locked cells. Although security protocols were highly efficient, they were not foolproof. Within weeks of the renovations both Mister Zsasz and Batman succeeded in breaking out of the asylum. Additionally, Batman's former partner, Nightwing even succeeded in breaking into Arkham. Residents Although nobody actually lives in Arkham permanently, it being an asylum, it has an infamous list of frequent residents. It's most notorious inmates throughout the years include: * Abattoir * Alberto Falcone * Amadeus Arkham * Amygdala * Black Mask * Blockbuster * Calendar Man * Cavalier * Charlatan * Clayface * Cornelius Stirk * Crazy Quilt * Dancer * Deadshot * Death Rattle * Doctor Destiny * Doctor Double X * Doctor Phosphorus * Doodlebug * Everard Mallitt * Film Freak * Firefly * Great White Shark * Harley Quinn * Hugo Strange * Humpty Dumpty * Hush * Jane Doe * Jason Woodrue * Jean Loring * Jonah Hex * Joker * Killer Croc * Killer Moth * Kobra * Lock-Up * Mad Hatter * Magpie * Maxie Zeus * Mister Freeze * No-Face * Poison Ivy * Polka Dot Man * Professor Milo * Psycho-Pirate * Riddler * Scarecrow * Solomon Grundy * Terry Gene Kase * Tweedledum and Tweedledee * Two-Face * Ventriloquist * Mister Zsasz * Employees: ** Aaron Cash Head of Security ** Alyce Sinner Director ** Jeremiah Arkaham former Director Gallery Category:Locations Category:Stages Category:DC Universe Category:Batman Category:Justice League Category:M.U.G.E.N